I like to bowl. I bowl in two winter leagues each year and sub in two morning leagues at two different bowling centers. I meet friends on Wednesday to bowl six practice games. One of the bowling centers has a special offer where you pay $120 for a Pin Pass and you can bowl as many games as you want from 9 am - 5 pm everyday for the next three months. Lately, I've been bowling 18 games a week there (6 games on three different days). It takes me less than two weeks to pay off the Pin Pass and I save over $900 during that three month period. Over the course of a year, I'll save nearly $4,000.

I love working with the colors and whether plying a needle or a hook, find it so relaxing! I can even combine them, since single crochet swaths make a great ground for cross-stitch embroidery.

to do both.

So much joy to be had, or relived...

my wife into a film buff!

Film Noire mysteries (late 40s early 50s) mostly B+W..

it's listening to music, watching Chinese (and sometimes Korean) dramas, and scouring YouTube for great videos. Oh, and plotting revenge, lol.

Last edited Wed Jul 30, 2025, 04:18 PM - Edit history (1)

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Which is a good thing because my Mandarin sucks.

I started it as a hobby 5 years ago during the pandemic shutdown, and it quickly became an obsession. I retired from teaching in May of '24 to pursue it full time, and it now provides me a nice little side income via local craft shows to supplement my pension. If any of you are on Instagram, I display my work under @scouthikerdad1. Here is a nice platter I turned recently from black walnut.https://photos.app.goo.gl/JUvueaWUnRV6jHHk9

I pour all my heart and soul into black walnut.

I am sort of specializing in large bespoke platters and centerpiece-style fruit and salad bowls, and lots of big live-edge bowls from local wood (including what I am calling "storm bowls" from trees downed by Hurricane Helene-these sell faster than I can turn them).
I am actually enrolled in a platter class with the great Matt Monaco at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC next week (my 3rd class with him). If you peruse his webpage, his work is stunning, and to watch him turning is the closest thing I have ever seen to poetry in motion: https://www.monacobowls.com/gallery

The learning and growth never stop.

Anyway, we all find creative ways to stay (mostly) sane, eh? I'm glad to see that others on here are doing the same.

Wonderful work by your teacher. Beautiful little "spindles" in lids. Some really big pieces.

And waaay down in the photos this beautiful low oval ?vase.

Model rockets, mid-power rockets, and high power rockets. Some of which require a waiver from the FAA to fly.

When I was a Scoutmaster we used to let the boys build and launch the basic Estes rockets at a local football field. Much more basic and low-tech than you do, I'm sure. But they loved that!

Been drawing my whole life. Pencil at first, some india ink, but then - I was given a rapidiograph. They are refillable fine line pens, and precursors to fine line markes. They're also called technical pens.

Colored pencils here, and there as a teen, then stopped. Picked back up in later '80s, inspired by someone else, for an illustration portfolio that never got any takers. Later, had to give them up as a steady thing (odd injury consequence). Then fine line black markers, particularly Sakuro brand.

A sort of "problem" is that the digital app of the past 3+ years let's me use color which I have found more enticing than drawing w black & white physical mediums. So I'm trying to get myself back to physical drawing.

Right now it doesn't look very good. You wouldn't guess my actual skill level from what I'm doing currently. It might just be a few months of re-practising will get me back to speed. Hopefully!

Then I make unique wire jewelry w, w/o semi-precious stones, waterpearls.

Yarn craft - knitting in my later 40's, crochet in my early 50's. I'm pretty slow on that, so small projects. Admire those who have the patience for big projects.

Read, watch science fiction.

Trying to get back into small paintings. We'll see.

Sorry for long post.

switch around too. I believe you had your degree in Art, My was in Art Ed.

You'd have to be taking Art Classes to teach Art. Duuuhhh.😄

👍

I play a bit of guitar and banjo but lately I'm into percussion. I have a 14" buffalo hand drum that is fun and a Remo Standard 12" frame drum but may add one of their larger ones as I get such a kick from playing them...I put a streaming jazz station (mostly KCSM from San Francisco) on my Alexa speakers and I'm off and running...I don't play so loud as to bother the neighbors and am sure I won't make it to PBS or NPR...

Especially geometric-style pieces.

http://anniesblessedbead.com

Plus volunteering with our cat rescue.

Thanks!

Fly fishing, to be exact. When I’m not on the water fishing with flies, I’m sitting at my bench tying flies to fish with.

I hear this! I get back to my beloved WNC mountains whenever I can to some of my favorite wild trout streams with a daypack and a flyrod. No better therapy for this mountain boy! I just turned 60 so I can't rock-hop safely like I used to, so I just use a staff as a 3rd leg, carbide-studded wading boots, and don't take so many chances in deeper or rushing water.

I've been doing it for 35 years

"relative" by marriage then end up going on a tangent tracing them.

but most of the time the side trails are the interesting and well worth it. My wife's tree has a lot of famous people in it. Mine are all peasants lol.

I did taekwondo. That was my favorite pastime for 25 years.

and my husband and I like to go antiquing together. We don't buy much, but I do enjoy looking for weird and quirky things.

...and substitute teaching.
Keeps me pretty occupied.

Other hobbies, that I hope to get back to someday, are playing guitar, and scale model & diorama building. I used to bake a lot of sweets with my daughters, but they have moved out of state.